Random ramblings, book reviews, personal photos and observations on life from a small town girl with a big heart. Welcome.

5.25.2009

Biggest Loser Challenge

Today marks the first day of my library staff's internal "Biggest Loser" competition.

I got the idea from a library system out east (I can't find the article right this second, though!), who set up a "Biggest Loser" competition for their patrons, but I tweaked it a bit for our staff use.

I think we're all hyper-aware at the library of staff health and fitness, having had three staff members die within a two year period, (plus, let's face it, we all want to lose a pound or two!) so I created our 15-week challenge, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Every participant will wear a pedometer (we even bought pedometers for staff who didn't already own one) every weekday, tracking their steps. They get one point for the first 3,000 steps, then an additional point for every additional 1,000 steps.

Easy, right?

The kicker is that every participant has to chuck $1 a week, or $15 total, into the kitty. Whoever has the most points after 15 weeks wins the whole pot - which, by my calculations, should be close to $200.

I'm all for that!

I can't wait to see how competitive we all get, pushing each other for more steps, and to see how our health and wellness improves over 15 weeks. Every staff members but three are participating, which I think is FABULOUS! I was afraid people might scoff at my idea, but everyone jumped on board, which was pretty gratifying. :-)

Does anyone else have any workplace wellness programs going? I'd love to hear what other staff challenges people have set up, maybe something we can use in the future.

In any case, stay tuned for a report in September about how we did! :-)